Star Trek: 10 Episodes That Are UNWATCHABLE Now

10. Code Of Honor

We’re beginning with the episode that everyone knew would be here on this list. There is simply no defending it, regardless of the fact it’s one of the very few Tasha Yar-centric episodes available to the audience. If you don’t know the story, the Enterprise-D arrives in orbit above Ligon II, where the Ligonians possess a vaccine desperately needed by Starfleet. The Liogonians are race of people depicted as tribal people of colour. The outfits are stereotypical, the misogyny is on full display, and Tasha is quickly kidnapped by Lutan, their leader. 

Cue a ritualistic fight to the death between Tasha and Yareena - Lutan’s ‘woman’. 

The original filming script didn’t specifically call for the Ligonians to be played by black people. What resulted was an episode that was described by Jonathan Frakes as a "racist piece of shit." 

It’s uncomfortably stereotypical, leaning heavily on western notions of African tribalism, offering little to no nuance, and the resolution, while offering some catharsis in Lutan’s deposition, feels a bit too tacked on to really work. This, being the third episode of The Next Generation, came at a time when the show hadn’t earned any good will from the audience yet. Neither Encounter At Farpoint or The Naked Now had done much in that respect either, offering a rocky start for the first live-action Star Trek spin-off.